


If Only for Now

by Mewdove



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Child Arno, Gen, Modern AU, Platonic Relationships, Protective Shay, Young Arno
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-20
Updated: 2016-10-12
Packaged: 2018-05-02 12:01:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5247536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mewdove/pseuds/Mewdove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shay hadn’t planned to stay, but something made him. It was then that he found out that Charles Dorian had a son. If he had known he would have found another way to get the box. He was now responsible for the child, or so, he felt that way. He had convinced Arno to come with him. He was now responsible whether or not he wanted to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Shay checked them both into a hotel well after the sun had gone down. The place was small and crappy, exactly what you’d expect to find near the main road. He cancelled his flight and alerted Haytham he would be a little late getting back. Of course, he avoided telling him what had happened. Arno was asleep in the back seat of the rental car Shay had gotten. He would have gotten on the flight, but with Arno now in his care, he felt bad. The flight he was suppose to take was at a late hour and Arno had had a long day. Once he parked he glanced back at the sleeping child. Not wanting to disturb his slumber he got out of the car then went to the back seat. Shay undid Arno’s seat belt then proceeded to carry him up to their room. Once he put him down he went back to lock the door. The place was crappy, since they were only staying for the night, and because Shay hadn’t been expecting any of this to happen. Eventually, Shay fell asleep as well, worried for what events the next day would hold. What the hell had he gotten himself into?

 

Shay awoke to a _thud_. Upon opening his eyes he was greeted by Arno staring right at him. Quickly he sat up, looking down at the kid.

“Why were you sleeping on the floor, Mr. Cormac?” he had told Arno his name, and honestly, didn’t expect him to be that polite about addressing him.

“Well there was only one bed.” He quickly responded. He was given a curt nod before Arno blurted out,

“I’m hungry.”

“We’ll get you something on our way to the airport.”

“Airport?”

“Yes. The place with planes-…” Before he could finish, Arno interrupted.

“I know what it is, but where are we going?”

“Back to my home.”

“You don’t live here?” he didn’t know exactly how to answer that. ‘yup. I only came here to kill your dad!’ probably wouldn’t go over well.

“No. I was visiting.” Arno tilted his head to the side, as if trying to understand.

“Are you…. Going to take care of me now?” Shay nodded. They sat in silence for a short while before Shay stood up, saying,

“Let’s go. We don’t want to be late.” The kid nodded, holding out his hand. Shay glanced down at it, confused.

“My father held my hand when we walked.”

“Well… you don’t have to do that anymore, okay?” Arno just nodded, following Shay out the door. He returned the keys for the room and headed over to the car. “Get in the back, alright? Do you need any help?” Arno was a short kid, and even Shay needed to step up pretty far to get in. When he got no answer he looked around, horrified to see no sign of Arno. He rushed around until he found him back in the hotel lobby, exploring. “Arno!” he called, causing the boy to dart his attention up to Shay. The boy happily skipped over, smiling.

“Yes?” He just sighed then kneeled down to his height, understanding why Arno’s father did what he did.

“I changed my mind. Let’s hold hands.”

 

Once they got to the airport and past security (Arno asking “why?” at almost everything), Shay rushed them to their terminal. Luckily, they made it just in time, quickly boarding and taking their seats. Arno looked around, bouncing in his chair.

“Have you ever been on a plane before?” he asked. Arno looked up at him as Shay asked the question.

“Plenty of times. Me and my father traveled a lot!” It was strange, Arno didn’t seem too upset each time he brought up his father. Shay just nodded in response, internally glad that Arno wouldn’t be scared or start crying. “Mr. Cormac?” That made him look back at Arno. “I hate to bother you… but we never stopped for food…” Crap. He had forgotten.

“Um… I’m sure they have food on the flight. Just be patient, alright?” Hopefully they did, the flight from Paris to New York was about eight hours and thirty minutes. Arno nodded, continuing to look around. Shay had offered Arno the window seat, but he wanted the aisle seat. He didn’t understand at first, but did after he saw how Arno wanted to look at _everything_ better. Shay was glad there were only two seats in each row so neither of them had to be crushed into a middle seat. Once the intercom announced people were free to move about the cabin Arno perked up, starting to fumble with his seat belt. “What are you doing?” Shay asked.

“I want to go ask for food!”

“Arno, be patient.” He sighed, moving the kid’s hands away from the belt. Arno frowned, but said nothing more.

After a short amount of time, Arno had decided he went long enough without talking. “I’ve never been back here before… I’m usually up there!” He pointed to where the thin curtains hid first class. Honestly? What was the point of curtains? To let the people in back know they aren’t good enough to sit up there? It’s not like they blocked out noise, or even hid them for that matter. Shay always found it dumb.

“Well now you’re back here.” Shay remembered that Arno’s family was rather rich, so of course he flew first class. He guessed they weren’t rich enough to get their own personal jet though. Seeing Arno bounce up and down repeatedly made Shay feel a bit bad for forcing him to stay in his seat. Arno was obviously the type of kid who couldn’t stand still for too long. Feeling as though Arno might burst, Shay finally gave in.

“You can go ask the lady when, or if, they’ll be serving f-…” Before he could finish, Arno was already out of his seat and half way up the plane. He watched him carefully and saw as the flight attendant smiled at him then proceeded to put her finger to her mouth and give him some snacks. It looked as if he thanked her before running back down to Shay, bouncing as he showed him the snacks he received. Honestly it was nothing special. Just a small bag of peanuts and one large chocolate chip cookie. It wasn’t even the good kind, but Arno seemed happy so Shay smiled. “Yes, yes I see. Now sit back down and quietly eat.” Arno did as he was told, sitting down. Shay buckled Arno’s seat back up before turning to look out the window as Arno ate.

 

A few hours passed. It was late, so most people started falling asleep. Arno, however, saw the whole, being on a plane thing, as a chance to stay up past his bed time. Speaking of which, Shay would have to come up with one, since he doubted Arno would tell him the truth. Shay honestly wanted to get some sleep, but he needed to keep an eye on Arno. The kid didn’t even seem the slightest bit tired as he leaned from his seat to look out the window. Though it bothered Shay to have Arno leaning over him like this, he just let it slide.

“Mr. Cormac! Mr. Cormac! Look at all of the lights!” he whispered excitedly, pointing out the window down to a light filled city below. Shay nodded, yawning. “It’s so pretty…” He didn’t want to admit it, but he liked hearing Arno’s voice. Maybe because it amused him that a French kid had a British accent. He would have asked him about it, but honestly, he didn’t want to bring up anything that might have to do with his father.

“Yes. It is.” He pulled out his phone and looked at the time. Only an hour until they reached New York. Great. Haytham was going to pick him up, but because Shay was getting back so late, he had arranged someone else to drive him home. Shay was only happy about this because that meant he wouldn’t have to explain what happened to Haytham. Eventually he would have to tell him, or he’d find out, but as long as he didn’t, he wouldn’t tell him. When Arno didn’t say anything for a few minutes, he looked down to find the kid asleep in his lap. Shay sighed, but made no motion to move him. Eventually, he fell asleep as well.

 

Shay woke up to the intercom announcing that they’ve landed in New York. Lifting up Arno, he exited the plane and walked to where he was going to be picked up. He was surprised to see Gist there, expecting Haytham to have sent Charles or something. Gist looked just as surprised as Shay once he saw him carrying Arno.

“Who’s he?”

“I’ll… Explain on the way.” He sighs. They walked to the car and Shay carefully placed Arno in the back seat, pulling on his seatbelt. Afterwards, Shay sat shotgun, glancing over at the confused Gist.

“Am I gonna get an explanation now, or-…?”

“You know how I went to Paris just to get the box? Well, it turns out Charles had a kid, and I didn’t find out until it was too late.”

“Okay, but why do you have him?”

“It’s my fault his father is dead. It’s the least I could do.” There was a silence before Gist calmly nodded. They talked more about it, arguing some, until they arrived back at Shay’s apartment building. “Please, don’t tell Haytham. I will. I’d rather he hear my reasoning first.” They shared a meaningful glance then Shay got Arno out of the car, heading inside. Once he got inside his apartment, he was greeted by the familiar atmosphere. He didn’t know exactly what he would do with Arno. He just guessed he would have to sleep on the couch for the time being. Shay brought Arno into his room, gently laying him down on the bed. Once he laid down on the couch, he was fast asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

This was now the second time Shay had awoken to a thud. He quickly sat up to hear a quiet little,  
“Oops.” He stood up and rushed to where he heard it, finding Arno in the kitchen next to a box of cereal that’s contents had spilled out all over the floor. Arno looked up at Shay, pouting. “I was trying to not disturb you and make my own breakfast. I couldn’t really reach it though.” Shay sighed, bending over to help clean up. Once they finished picking up the mess Shay poured Arno a bowl of cereal, placing it on the coffee table in front of the TV and switching it on. Luckily, Arno was quickly distracted by three girls and a small boy fighting a monster. He made himself breakfast as well, bacon and scrambled eggs. Shay sat beside Arno, also getting sucked into the show. Once it was over, Shay changed to the news. Once he saw what was on, he scrambled to change the channel, almost breaking the remote in the process. Arno looked over at him, confused. Shay honestly didn’t have any idea that killing Arno’s father was that significant. Was the man that important that they needed to report on it? He just ruffled Arno’s hair, causing him to giggle then forget about Shay’s lack of style points. Suddenly, it hit him. How the hell was he going to take care of this kid? He asked if he had anyone to take care of him and he didn’t. Shay couldn’t raise a kid, especially not when he was a Templar. He didn’t want Arno to get hurt because of something Shay did. The kid didn’t deserve that. He guessed he would just find someone else who would be willing to take care of him, but who? Shay, lost in his thoughts, didn’t notice as Arno got up with his bowl and headed back to the kitchen. Well, this time, it wasn’t a thud. It was a crash, the sound of glass shattering. Shay jumped to his feet, racing into the room. Oh, thank god, Arno wasn’t hurt. “Oops….”

Later, he had managed to distract Arno once again with the TV. He got a call and rushed into his room, shutting the door behind him. He picked up, responding with a simple, “hello?”  
“Shay.” Crap. It was Haytham.  
“Oh. Hello Mr. Kenway.”  
“Sorry I couldn’t give you a ride back. I assume your mission was successful?”  
“Yes-…” He was cut off as Arno ran into the room, opening the door happily.  
“Mr. Cormac! Mr. Cormac! Come see this!”  
“Who is that?” Shay bent down to Arno’s height, placing his finger to his own lips.  
“You must be hearing things in your old age Mr. Kenway.”  
“I’m as old as you!” He snapped. “Now I demand to know who that was!”  
“I’m babysitting for a friend….” Arno eventually grew bored and left the room, and Shay let out a sigh of relief.  
“And you couldn’t tell me before, why?”  
“Does anyone want to admit they have to babysit?” There was a silence, then a sigh from Haytham.  
“I expect you to report to me tomorrow.” Before Shay could get a word in, the other man had hung up. Groaning, Shay lent back against the door. Unfortunately he forgot Arno had left it open and he fell to the ground, his annoyed groan turning into a pained one. Arno must have heard the noise because he came running.  
“Are you alright?” He sat up, looking at Arno.  
“I’m fine. Don’t worry.” Looking at him, he realized Arno would need more than one pair of clothes. Shay sat up. “Let’s go to the store, alright?”  
“What store, Mr. Cormac?”  
“Bullseye. They have clothes, food, and toys-…” When he had said toys that seemed to peek Arno’s interest.  
“Then let’s go!”

 

Once they got to a store Shay didn’t even have time to get a cart. Arno already darted inside, making a B line towards the toys.  
“Arno!” Shay let out a huff, chasing after the boy. He gently grabbed Arno’s hand, stopping him. Arno frowned, looking up at Shay.  
“Sorry… I got excited…” How could he stay mad at that face?  
“Just don’t run off like that again, alright?”  
“Okay.” He looked down sadly as Shay led him away from the toys and over to the clothes.  
“We came here to get you some clothes, so why don’t you pick some things out?” Arno was quickly occupied by the task, and Shay finally got to relax. Well, not really. He still had to keep an eye on Arno. That kid was distracted quickly and ran fast. Eventually, he came back to Shay with only shirts that had cartoon characters on them. “Arno… You need pants too.” Before Arno could answer Shay decided to help him instead.

After a few hours and having a hard time convincing Arno to put back a few of the shirts, he felt a bit better. Now Arno had more than just one pair of clothes. Shay headed over to check out to be stopped by Arno. He looked down to see the boy gently tugged at the end of his shirt.  
“Mr. Cormac? Can I get some toys too?”  
“Alright, fine.” He had to admit, Arno was better behaved then most kids. Kind of. Arno instantly perked up, starting to run off again. Shay stayed close behind, making sure he wouldn’t pick the most expensive thing. Arno was looking up and down each aisle, finally picking up something. The next thing Shay knew was that he had a plastic sword aimed at him. Slowly he tilted it down so it was aiming the floor instead. “No.”  
“Pleeeease?” Arno whined, looking up at him with those damn puppy eyes.  
“Don’t aim it at me and we have a deal.” He held out his hand, soon realizing what he was doing and starting to pull it back. Arno grinned, grabbing it and shaking it.  
“Alright!” Shay was a bit surprised but just shrugged it off, buying everything they came for then loading the stuff into the trunk. Arno had a bit of trouble getting into the car, since he was small and the car was pretty big. Shay helped him up, buckling him in as well. Looking up he was greeted by Arno smiling at him.  
“Um… Well. Yeah.” Not knowing what to say he moved back, shutting the car door and getting in the front.

The next day Shay had woken up early, making sure Arno was still asleep, so he could call Haytham. After two rings he picked up.  
“Hello. This is Haytham Kenway speaking.”  
“Hi. It’s Shay. You asked me to report to you?”  
“I meant in person, Mr. Cormac.” Clearing his throat, he tried to think of an excuse.  
“I’m busy.”  
“It’s seven in the morning and I know you don’t work until eight because you work for me.”  
“Oh, yeah. Glad you brought that up. I can’t come to work today…”  
“What?” Shay could tell Haytham was getting angered.  
“I’ll explain tomorrow!” With some protest from Haytham, Shay hung up anyway. He could always say he was busy because of the holidays, but Haytham knew he had no one to actually spend the holidays with. Thinking about it more, Shay guessed he would have to explain who he was babysitting for. He said it was for a friend and Gist certainly didn’t have any kids. He could make up something but no doubt Haytham would find out. Why did he have to have a competent boss? Shay just slumped back against the wall, sighing loudly and staring down at the phone in his hands. Before he knew it Arno sleepily walked out of his room, rubbing his eye.  
“Mr. Cormac?” Had he woke him up? Crap. It was now Shay had noticed Arno holding an old pocket watch.  
“Arno? Where did you get that?” Shay questioned, hoping that Arno hadn’t stolen it somehow. How would the kid even manage to do that? He wasn’t very stealthy. Arno blinked before looking down at the watch. He held it up, looking it over.  
“Do you mean this? It was my father’s. He gave it to me… before…” He didn’t finish his sentence and it wasn’t like Shay was going to make him. Finally Shay stood back up.  
“Alright.” Arno slipped the watch into one of his pockets, looking up at Shay.  
“Are we going anywhere today, Mr. Cormac?” He asked, smiling. Thinking it over, he would undoubtedly have to be out of the house. Just in case Haytham planned to stop for a visit.  
“Yeah, and you get to pick where. But… um… nowhere too expensive.”  
“Could we go to the amusement park?” Arno asked eagerly. Shay hadn’t actually been to one in a while and, from what he remembered, they weren’t too expensive. Right?  
“Fine. Get dressed and we’ll go.” He walked over to the table, grabbing his car keys. Arno was fast, that he knew, but he hadn’t expected the kid to be fully dressed in ten seconds flat…

Upon arriving at the park, Shay had to grab Arno’s arm so he wouldn’t run off. “Don’t leave my sight, alright? Or we’ll have to leave. Now, where to first?” Arno dragged Shay off to the nearest roller coaster. Unfortunately for him he was too short. This just made him frown. Shay leaned down to be around his height. “How about we try the Ferris Wheel?” Arno got over that quickly, perking back up and dragging Shay off again. When they were around the top Arno was bouncing up and down repeatedly, pointing out everything to Shay.  
“Mr. Cormac! Mr. Cormac! Look at all the people! They almost look like ants! Oh and look they have cotton candy and funnel cakes! And those prize stands over there have so many cute little animals! And there’s a guy in a weird hat down there do you see? It looks like a taco! Oh-! And- and-…!” Shay was ignoring most of Arno’s speech until he mentioned the hat. Quickly springing up and looked to where Arno was pointing. Had Haytham somehow found out where they were and came to punish Shay? Upon farther inspection he saw him, and yes, that was most defiantly him, talking to a little boy. Well that was a bit creepy. Shay pulled out his phone, deciding to text him.  
[Shay]: Where are you?  
He watched as Haytham pulled out his phone.  
[Haytham]: Taking a day off. I decided since you were taking a free day in the middle of the week I might as well do it too!  
[Shay]: Where exactly?  
[Haytham]: Don’t tell me you’re planning on following me around now? At the amusement park. Why?  
[Shay]: Well I thought I saw you is all.  
[Haytham]: Proper grammar please Mr. Cormac.  
The whole time Arno had been trying to read the texts over Shay’s shoulder, to no prevail. Once the Ferris wheel finally stopped Shay rushed him and Arno out.  
“Where are we going now Mr. Cormac?”  
“We’re going to come here another day. For now we’re going home.” Shay did want to find out who the boy Haytham was talking to earlier was, but today was not that day. Arno frowned but made no complaint. Until he saw the booth filled with animal plushies he was talking about earlier. Arno pointed over at the stand.  
“Mr. Cormac? Before we leave can I pleeeease try to win one of those?”  
“Not today, Arno.”  
“Just this one! Then we can leave! Please oh please Mr. Cormac? I promise I won’t ask you for anything ever again after this! Pleeeeeeeease?” Arno began to whine, digging his heels into the ground. When people started looking over at them Shay finally gave in.  
“Alright, alright. Just once. Okay?” Arno hugged his leg in response.  
“Thank you!” Before he could respond Arno rushed off. Shay stayed close behind, keeping watch for Haytham.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter may be a bit short! I've been procrastinating this even though I already have ideas that I want to add. I'll try to get the third chapter out on Christmas. It'll probably be a really short one though. Like a special thing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So fuck my writers block. It came back again and I'm just posting what I had and said i would post months ago. Here it is. I'm so sorry.

Shay and Arno headed over to the booth. Shay knew these games were rigged and that if you did happen to win you probably just got a finger puppet. If you played for a while, wasting your money, you might actually win what you want. Shay, however, wanted to just scoop up Arno and run. Haytham could find them at any second and he really did not want to explain the whole Arno situation just yet. Paying the man five dollars for just three darts, Arno looked excited. He picked up the first one, closing one eye to attempt to aim, though all it really did was mess up his peripheral vision. As Shay expected, the boy missed. Looking disappointed. He picked up the next one, looking determined now. He stuck out his tongue slightly as if it would help him concentrate. Shay knew this did nothing, but it was rather cute. He threw it, surprisingly hitting and balloon and popping it. Arno was about to toss the last one when all of Shay’s fears came to life.   
“So this is why you ditched work, Mr. Cormac? To come and play games and ride roller coasters?” It was Haytham, holding the hand of the kid he saw him talking to earlier. “And I assume you asked me where I was because you saw me?” Arno had dropped the dart, hiding behind Shay and staring up at the man. Now Shay was sure he knew Arno was with him. “Who is this?” Yup, he was right.  
“This is Arno… Dorian.” Shay replied, hoping Haytham would understand. They exchanged looks, arguing without words for a bit before Haytham sighed. “I know what you’re going to say, but I think you understand why I chose to do this.” Suddenly the kid at his side spoke up.  
“May I try to win an animal too, father?” Father. Father!? Shay looked back at Haytham, his jaw dropping.  
“You never told me, or anyone for that matter, that you had a son.”  
“Well I didn’t see why I had too. It is no one’s business but mine.”


End file.
